Viva Las Vegas Part 2

Sooooo, we had one great day in Las Vegas, then Friday morning we set out to visit the casinos on the strip. The Venetian was just across the street so we started there.


The paintings are beautiful!


And the sky looked so real that you could almost see the clouds moving.(but it is just painted.)


Then we set off for Caesar's Palace.We stopped for a quick photo op. Here Mom is with her DIL(Gay) & SIL(Bud)


It was gorgeous!


It was about here that I started feeling ill. we found a spot to sit and have a water and watch the free show.(no good pics). After that Bud walked back to the motel to make sure I made it to bed where I spent the rest of the day. I rallied enough to see a show that evening.


It was a good show. then we headed to the Bellagio to see the water show.


Very Cool!
and it was time for me to head back to bed where I stayed all the next day until about 3:00. Bud and I then took a bus tour so that I at least got to see the entire strip and the Las Vegas sign. We then met my cousin and her husband for dinner at a nice Italian Restaurant. I was too ill to enjoy the food. :( Next up was....


We LOVED Home Improvement, but I didn't really enjoy him in person so much. He was a little crude but really it was more that he just went in so many directions. His opening guy was almost better.
The next morning it was time to head home. I enjoyed the trip, but I spent too much time in the motel room sick.


At least it was a fantastic view!!!

I ended up missing almost the entire next week of school since I had come down with influenza and sinus infection while we were in Vegas.

Thanks to Dean and Gay for a great vacation! But I might need a Do-Over! Just sayin.....

(And to those of you who asked...yes, we saw some of the Pawn Stars, but I don't watch it so I'm not sure who they were.  They were filming that day so some of them were there.)

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Viva Las Vegas!!!

The last day of January a big storm was predicted for Iowa. I guess we forgot to tell Mother Nature that we had plans to fly out to Vegas that day! My sister decided to spend the night with us so we were on the same path that morning. We left our house about 3:30 a.m. for a 5:30 flight. As we left home for our 45 minute drive we began to see flurries, and the roads got worse the closer we got to CR. We checked in and boarded the plane on time. We were really patting ourselves on the back for choosing such an early flight and getting out ahead of the storm. Long story short....we backed out, waited to be de-iced, pulled in to wait for visibility, pulled out, waited to be de-iced, pulled in and waited for visibility, and FOUR hours later deplaned and they CANCELED our flight!!! Sometime in that four hours we found out all schools in EASTERN Iowa had been canceled for the day.


As you can imagine MANY flights were canceled. So now our conundrum. Bud stood in line for a while as Kathy got on the phone. Again, long story short we ended up taking the last three seats to Denver at noon with no connecting flight. FOOLS??? Well, we were meeting Mom, my brother and SIL, and Dean told us to get to Denver and we'd figure it out from there. We got to Denver and headed straight for the counter...no flights. So, we changed airlines, bought new tickets, crossed our fingers that our luggage would actually get their, and took off. We landed in Vegas six hours late, but our luggage DID make it! We started out at Señor Frogs at Treasure Island where we stayed.


The next morning we headed for Hoover Dam. We took the tour which was very interesting.


Next we stopped by the NASCAR Track. We just visited the gift shop and headed off to the home of Pawn Stars where, believe it or not, we waited in line!


They were filming that day, but I'm pretty sure no one in our group made it on film! I was not impressed, but it was not all about me!

Next up was the free show at The Rio.


After a seafood buffet we headed downtown to Fremont Street for the light show.


There were ALL types of people on Fremont Street!


We headed back to the hotel exhausted and ready for some sleep.

Part 2 tomorrow.......
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Titanic Exhibit

We recently made a trip to Texas and New Mexico to visit family and relax. Our first stop was Union Station in Kansas City where we saw a Titanic
Exhibit. It has been a hundred years since the tragedy.


As we entered the exhibit we were each given a boarding pass of someone who was a passenger on the Titanic. It also listed who the person's traveling companions were.


At the end we were able to look over a list to see if we had survived or not. Bud was a first class man traveling with his wife and son. He did not survive, but his family did. My person was a third class 14 year old girl who was traveling with her 12 year old brother. Their father was denied access to the ship because of an eye infection. Miraculously they survived.

The exhibit was very interesting. We did the audio tour which always adds to the exhibit. We saw many artifacts from pieces of the ship to fine china stacked in a row just as they found it at the bottom of the ocean. Some of the stories were just heart wrenching. One thing I wasn't aware of was that many people were diverted to the Titanic from other ships because of a coal strike. How unfortunate for them.

Part of the exhibit was a scene from the boiler room as the ship hit the iceberg and water poured in....complete with red hot furnaces and men yelling! The huge iceberg at the end was also super cool.

I am so sorry that I cannot take my fourth graders through this exhibit. Our second story of the year is about the Titanic, and they LOVE it! At least I now have more knowledge to share with them.

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Texas Motor Speedway

WARNING: LONG POST-LOTS OF PHOTOS!

Several weeks ago we had a mini vacation.  On Thursday afternoon we flew to Dallas, TX.  My cousin, Mark,  and his wife, Lori picked us up at the airport.  After a nice supper we spent the night at their house.  Friday morning my brother, Dean, and sister-in-law, Gay picked us up.  We did a couple of touristy things that I had insisted on.  Our first stop was Southfork.

What is Southfork, you ask?  Well, at least several of my kids asked!  Southfork is the home of JR and Sue Ellen Ewing among other fictional characters on my favorite tv show---Dallas!    I have to say it was disappointing.  The home wasn't all that grand, and come to find out none of the show was filmed inside!

A new series is being filmed, and I WILL be watching!

From there we went to the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.  This is formerly known as the Dallas Book Depository. The museum chronicles the assassination and legacy of President John F. Kennedy.  

In this photo you can see the window on the right that is always left open halfway--just as it was the day of the shooting.  It was very interesting.

Next off was a great meal at Pappadeaux's Seafood Kitchen.  We started with some appetizers--

Alligator on the left, and frog legs on the right.  I have to say I preferred the alligator, and the frog legs did NOT taste like chicken to me!  The rest of my meal was FANTASTIC--right down to the cheesecake for dessert!

Then we were off to the real reason we were in Dallas--The Texas Motor Speedway!  We camped in the infield in my brother's camper.  There were four campers in our group.  

This shows part of my brother's fifth wheel where we stayed, my cousin's RV, a friend's RV, and there was another Rv on the other side of us.   There were about 100 acres of campers. (I didn't come up with this number, but it may be wrong..just sayin.)

My cousin has this fancy "thing" (not sure what to call it!) that he built that they watch the races from.

Yup, that there's Bud up there watching the race on Saturday.  They have seats and a TV up there too.  You will notice headphones on them as they watch the race.  Well, they can listen in to the drivers' conversations as they race.  I can't imagine how boring it would be to watch the race without them!

Underneath is the cooking area complete with a grill, cupboards, and a serving area.  Cynthia and Randy made some great food--chicken wings, ribs, tenderloins, fries, etc.

Friday night was the NASCAR Truck Series race, Saturday was the NASCAR Nationwide Race, and Sunday was the big one--the NASCAR Sprint Cup Race.

Sunday Dean, Gay, Bud, and I went to the CAT tent where we had breakfast and lunch and met Jeff Burton.  

He had an autograph session, so we got our hats signed. (We were given a hat as we entered the tent.)  We were also lucky enough to be chosen to have our photo taken with him.  Then we spent some time at the merchandise area.  Finally, it was time for the race!  Mark and I sat in the stands for about half of the race.  This was our view--

Thanks to Dean, Bud, however,  was able to be in the pits for the Sprint Cup Race.  He was in HEAVEN!!  

He was this close to the drivers, their crew,  their cars, and the track:

Even with that, the best way to watch a race may be this:

At the race track, headphones on, watching the TV on the side of the RV!!

Bud really just sat there for a short time when he came up for food.  He finished the race in the pits, then proceeded to the garage.

As you can imagine there was some socializing at the campground!  Kevin Black, brother of Clint Black, performed just around the corner from us.  Bud and I listened to him for a while Saturday night.  He was very good!  Trace Adkins had a concert before the race, and then he sang the National Anthem. There were many campsites with very elaborate grills, big TVs, and stripper poles!  Our last night there we had a good time reliving old memories.  I guess we do that more when we get older!

Mark, Randy, Bud, Dean--Randy and Mark are my cousins that are the same age.  Bud, Mark, and I were in the same class for about 5 years.  Dean is my younger brother.  We all grew up in NW Iowa, but now Dean and Randy are in Dalhart, TX, Mark is in The Colony, TX, and we are in SE Iowa.  

We spent the last night back at Mark and Lori's.  After lunch on Monday we flew home.  I have MANY more pictures of cars, drivers, the garage, and the track!  I had a good time seeing relatives, and it was an experience.  Bud can now check it off his bucket list!

Thanks Dean & Gay, Mark & Lori, and Randy & Cynthia for a great weekend!

Chi Town!

In July I spent a few days in Chicago with Mom, my sister, my sister-in-law, two aunts, and a cousin.



We were there to celebrate Mom's 70th birthday which was last year, and my aunt's 75th which is coming up.

Mom and Aunt Ruth had already spent some time in Iowa, Aunt Corrine and my SIL, Gay, flew in so we could ride together. Our first stop was IKEA.




Most of us had never been to IKEA. A lot of my co-workers love it, so I thought we should check it out. Who knew they sold fabric???!!!!

           I'm thinking these may end up as backing for some kid quilts!

I also bought this toy for our toy box. It reminds me of one my kids used to have, except of course, there are more plastic parts.



Once we got checked into our motel we went down the street to check out the martini bar, Knickerbockers.

My sister and I tried to keep the ladies occupied while we went back to meet up with our cousin, Alyssa, who was flying in from AZ to surprise her mom. Thank goodness for Gay who did a good job herding them after a flurry of texts! Aunt Corrine was very surprised!

Navy Pier was our highlight of the evening. The fireworks were great! The Chicago skyline was beautiful after dark.




We spent the next VERY hot and humid day touring on this:




Its a great way to see a city unless it is your tour guide's second day of work,, he doesn't know much, and he keeps using "frickin"!!!!! ( Right, Gay?)

We toured downtown, China Town....

and Little Italy.

That evening we went to the Cadillac Theatre to see....

The theatre was very ornate and beautiful, and the musical was excellent!  I think everyone enjoyed it.

We also had an Architectural tour on the river.

Wouldn't you know it rained from the time we pulled out until we pulled back into the dock!!!!

Some of us were brave enough to step out on the Skydeck at Willis (Sears) Tower, some of us.....not so much!

Of course there was some shopping on the Magnificent Mile!

It was the first time I've stood in line just to get INTO a store. Wouldn't you know it was for food!--

One of Oprah's Favorite Things, 2010!

Of course we had to eat! Gay had a list, so Chicago style deep dish pizza was on it. As were Italian beef sandwiches, and of course Chicago style hot dogs!

We, of course, had all three! Yummmmm.

We dropped Alyssa at the airport and headed back to Iowa for the night. The Texans(Mom, Gay, Aunt Ruth, &Aunt Corrine) left brit and early the next day. I know I had a great time.

Now, off to plan next year's trip!

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